The JPMorgan Chase executive, once considered a dark horse candidate in the race to succeed CEO Jamie Dimon, is now the front-runner for the role, according to reports.
Doug Petno, 59, is one of three candidates, along with Troy Rohrbaugh and Marian Lake, being mentioned as potential successors to Dimon, according to Bloomberg News.
Mr. Petno's prospects as chief executive were clouded by the merger of the commercial banking division he led within JPMorgan Chase.
The reorganization means Petno will report directly to two other new executives.
But his candidacy unexpectedly increased earlier this week when the nation's largest financial institution announced it was promoting Jen Piepszak to chief operating officer, removing her name from its list of top candidates.
Daniel Pinto, who worked at the bank for 40 years and was a deputy executive at Dimon, will step down as chief operating officer and retire later this year.
The appointment included the promotion of Mr. Petno to co-head of the combined commercial and investment banking unit.
Mr. Petno was a highly regarded member of Mr. Dimon's management team and was instrumental in expanding JPMorgan Chase's commercial banking division.
Under his leadership, commercial banking revenue more than doubled, rising from $6.4 billion in 2011 to $15.5 billion in 2023, outpacing the company's overall revenue growth rate of 63% over the same period. Ta.
Most recently, Mr. Dimon was entrusted with expanding JPMorgan's footprint in Silicon Valley to target startups, venture capital firms and high-growth technology companies following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank.
“He's a great customer and a great culture player. He's built a great business in commercial banking, including investment banking partnerships,” Dimon said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Friday.
“He also has a great sense of humor. He's one of the best at OC.” OC is the steering committee that runs JPMorgan Chase.
Another member of the steering committee is Mr. Rohrbaugh, who serves as co-CEO of the company's commercial and investment banking division.
As a result of Mr. Petno's promotion, he will co-run the division, which is larger than Goldman Sachs, with Mr. Rohrbaugh.
Mr. Lake runs the lender's community and consumer banking division.
JPMorgan Chase declined to comment.
